Oct. 29: Police responded to a suicide at Reeders United Methodist Church.

Joseph Musante, husband of church administrative assistant Cynthia Musante, fatally shot himself in Schirmer's office. Police learned Schirmer had been in an extramarital affair with Cynthia Musante.

Nov. 12: Upon learning Schirmer's first wife died in Lebanon County in 1999 and questioning the circumstances of her death, police took another look at the July 2008 car crash involving Schirmer and his second wife.

Dec. 2: Police find evidence that the car was going slower than Schirmer said it was going when it crashed, and that Betty Jean was bleeding prior to the crash.

Dec. 18: Police found dried blood in the Schirmer residence, indicating Betty Jean likely was injured at home before getting or being placed into the car prior to the crash.

2010

July 8: After police consulted with Penn State University crash experts, a forensic pathologist and the Lehigh County coroner, Betty Jean Schirmer's manner of death was amended to "homicide."

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in the murder trial of Arthur Burton Schirmer, a former Monroe County pastor accused of killing his second wife in 2008.

Schirmer faces similar charges of killing his first wife in Lebanon County in 1999.

The case has gained national notoriety, and promises to be a headline-grabber as the trial progresses.

At glance, here are the key players and developments to watch as the case unfolds.

Defendant: Arthur Burton Schirmer, 64, pastor of Reeders United Methodist Church, Jackson Township, from 2001-08, when he resigned after learning he was being investigated in his second wife's death.

Victims: Betty Jean (Shertzer) Schirmer, 56, Arthur Schirmer's wife of seven years and stepmother to his three children from his first marriage. Born in Hershey and active in Reeders United Methodist Church and the Pleasant Valley Ecumenical Network, she had a son from a prior relationship.

A separate case to be prosecuted in Lebanon County stems from the April 23, 1999, death of his first wife, Jewel Schirmer, 50. No date has yet been scheduled for that trial.

The prosecution is not seeking the death penalty should Schirmer be convicted, which is why jury selection is expected to last only one day.

Allegation: On July 15, 2008, Schirmer gave his wife a head injury leading to her death in Lehigh Valley Hospital the next day, and then tried to make it seem as though she had gotten that injury in a staged car crash.

Schirmer's defense: He never inflicted any injury on Betty Jean.

She complained of jaw pain July 15, so he decided to drive her to Pocono Medical Center. They set off from home in their PT Cruiser, heading north on Route 715 into Pocono Township toward Interstate 80.

Betty Jean unhooked her seatbelt to shift into a more comfortable position in the front passenger seat.

A deer darted out into the road ahead of the vehicle, and Schirmer swerved to avoid it, crashing into the guard rail. Betty Jean, who had not yet reconnected her seatbelt, hit her head on the rearview mirror and windshield and was injured.

Among the evidence: Crash scene photos, repair estimates and an examination of the car's air-bag controls showing the car was going less than 25 mph when it crashed.

Schirmer had said it was going between 40 and 45 mph. Photos also showing an amount of blood considered too excessive to be caused by such a slow-speed crash.

Numerous dried blood drops on the garage floor near the top of the stairway, a large blood stain on the concrete floor, consistent with the area of the car's front passenger door, and more blood stains made visible via chemical enhancement. These latter stains indicate someone had tried cleaning up the blood, according to authorities.

Blood DNA samples show it 20 trillion times more likely that the blood on the floor belonged to the victim than to someone else, according to court papers.

Prosecution: First Assistant District Attorney Michael Mancuso, who prosecutes the county's criminal homicide cases, also has a private practice and is married to Brodheadsville Magisterial District Judge Colleen Mancuso. Mancuso might be assisted by fellow Assistant District Attorney Michael Rakaczewski.

Prosecution witnesses: May include Pocono Township Police Detective James Wagner, one of the lead investigators on the case.

Defense: Brandon Reish of the Stroudsburg law firm, Cramer, Swetz & McManus. Listed among Pennsylvania's top criminal defense lawyers last year, Reish is a Monroe County native and Temple University School of Law graduate.

Defense witnesses: May include Schirmer himself, but it's unknown at this time if he will testify in his own defense.